Five Days
by Lyle Sammie
Summary: AU. CloudxAerith. Cloud races against time to find the woman he loves and to get back at the ones responsible for the Mideel attack. Language and violence within.


**SUMMARY:**After a brutal event changes the lives of Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough, a deadly game has been set up for them to play. Aerith plays the victim, Cloud the lowly pawn. Time is significantly sparse, and there is much opposition converging on the site. Determined to free the woman he loves, Cloud will stop at nothing to get her back.

CloudxAerith fanfic

**DISCLAIMER:**No affiliation with SquareEnix or any of its publishers/developers resides with me. This story is merely meant as a purpose of entertainment and a progression of my English Composition skills. Enjoy.

FIVE DAYS

**PROLOGUE: THE CORPORATION'S GENESIS PLAN**

**2200 hours-- _Blue Skyline_**

Mideel was the epicenter of nightlife, the cream of the crop entertainment-wise. The glamorous skyscrapers mingled with the low-key residential society, and the artificially grown oaks clashed with the naturally fertilized palm trees of the city's beachline community. A world reknowned tourist town, Mideel had everything. White sand beaches with fifty-foot waves. Cypress Meadows--the world's best golf course. The grand waterfalls of N'achtacla spread close to eighty acres of natural beauty, and the Misty Mountains ridgelined east of the city offered breathtaking hiking tours and the snowcapped peak of San San Muto-- which stood 15000 feet high. Of course, the materialistic commodities of any big city were present as well. It was the fourth largest city of the world, compared to Midgar and Junon on the eastern continent and Wutai on the far western point of the globe. The southern continent was just a small patch of land surrounded by water; essentially, it was just an island, really. Mideel was the only city on its earth. A grand one at that.

In the Makong distict lay downtown. High class motels, fancy restaurants, and the major financial center lay here. Ghast Hall lay to the north of the district; it was a concert hall, world reknowned and an ingenius piece of architecture. The prime minister's oval office was directly in the center of the district and four stories tall, with the Secret Service corps an annex of the building. The prime minister was as thoroughly fashioned with his personal crew of accountants, stockbrokers, analysts, and FBI squads as the president of Midgar was. Maybe a bit more paranoid than the president, though. The crime life in Mideel was almost equilivant to the disastrous rates of the Mako Reactor city; as many as twenty crimes were committed a day in Mideel, and that was just a minimum. Twice in one month, the oval office was bombed by local gang organizations with inscrupulous reasons. Thankfully, for the prime minister's sake, the damages were considerably light. Senseless violence was abundant like a disease, and no one was spared in its wake.

Any notices of violent activity were unknown to Cloud Strife as he sat at a well furnished restaurant in the Makong district called the _Blue Skylight._ The restaurant was built next to a park; the park had a majestic fountain that constantly gushed out water every hour. The restaurant had a glass ceiling, and he had picked a lucky night. Not a cloud tormented the sky, and thousands of stars glittered the sea of blackness, and the full moon shone heavenly white through the glass. He was accompanied this night by the woman of his dreams. The moon shone on Aerith Gainsborough's light skin and glistened against her beautiful chocolate hair. A pink ribbon laced the top of her hair, and she had braided the long length in great detail. Her baby blue dress was shimmering in the moonlight.

Cloud knew that now was the time.

He was nervous when he spoke. "You look beautiful."

She smiled. "Thank you. I'm so glad you were able to arrange this. I love this place."

"You know I can do anything."

"Of course I know that. You're Cloud Strife, everyone knows that."

He smiled. "But you're the only person who really cares."

"And that's all that matters."

Their waiter arrived, carrying their trays of food that they had previously ordered. Aerith had a nice plate of caesar salad and a bowl of beef stew delivered for her. Cloud perked up at the tantalizing smell of his salisbury steak. The waiter bowed at them and left the table, giving Cloud an admirable look. They feasted on their meals. Cloud debated the properness of his plan, and decided to go for the simple approach. Aerith loved him, and he knew that. He cursed himself for being so damn nervous.

"How's your soup?" he asked.

"If gold were edible, that's what it would taste like."

"Nice."

"Steak good?"

"Better than good. Platinum good."

"_Platinum_ good, eh?"

"If there's such a thing, yes. I'd say that this is a ten on the scale."

She swallowed a bite and looked at him. Her emerald eyes peered lovingly at him, and he felt mistifyed. She asked, " Why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted to spend time with you."

"I enjoy spending time with you anywhere. Of course, I'm really enjoying tonight, but... You've planned something."

"No, I haven't. I knew you always wanted to come here, and tonight seemed like the perfect night."

"It is. It is the perfect night."

He nodded and swallowed his food.

"Well?"

"What?"

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing."

"Yes you are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Well..."

"Tell me!" She pushed her food aside and put both hands on the table. She looked directly into his eyes and repeated softly, "Tell me."

He placed his fork and knife down and reached into his vest pocket. He pulled out the little blue box and put it in front of her. He looked deep into her eyes, smiled, and replied, "I love you, Aerith. I love you with all my heart." He opened the box and revealed the diamond-encrusted, 6000 gil ring. "Will you marry me?"

She opened her mouth and took the ring. Not a sound escaped her lips, as her eyes teared up. She looked at him and gave him the biggest smile he had ever seen. "Of course I will."

He kissed her, and she embraced him and held his lips to hers.

**0030 hours-- Angel's Motel**

They walked across the parking lot towards their motel room, arm in arm. Her head bent toward his neck, draping the pink ribbon over his shoulder, and she closed her eyes. At this time of the night, there were still people milling about coming and going as they pleased. Entering their motel rooms or leaving their motel rooms, like a crazy beehive community. The motel itself had outdoor rooms that required no trekking down smelly hallways; you could come and go however you please. Cloud's room was 115 on the first floor, and Aerith wanted to join him for the night. He was happily pleased with that idea.

They stopped in front of the door, and he embraced her and kissed her neck.

"You're the girl of my dreams," he told her.

"You're the guy of my dreams."

"I'm serious. You're... you're really my first girlfriend. I've never been with anyone else."

"Not even that girl you grew up with in Nibelheim?"

"She never loved me. She loved someone else."

She hugged him. "Well, she was a dumbass, pure and simple."

He laughed and kissed her cheek, lips, neck, and chest.

Neither of them saw the man in dark drab appraoch them from behind. A _click-click _sound of a revolver, though, caused Aerith to jump and Cloud to turn around. A policeman in Shinra garb had accompanied the man in dark drab and was pointing the loaded revolver straight at Cloud's face. Cloud realized his sword was in his room; he hadn't figured he needed to bring it this night. _Just fucking great,_ he thought to himself.

The mysterious man in front of them had an undeniable crop of fire-red hair on his head. His face was rugged and striped with a five o clock shadow. He carried a strange thin baton on his belt that was sharpened on one side. He extended a hand towards Cloud and smiled wryly. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Strife. I apologize if my appearance here is stalling something... very important that you want to do right now."

Cloud refused the hand and asked, " Who are you?"

"Reno of the Turks."

"Turks?"

"A Shinra organization. I recruit people for the lovely ranks of SOLDIER."

"Oh yeah. One of you shitheads recruited me into that pigsty. Well, people can only serve one term in that service... and that's a world law. So, you're recruiting Aerith?"

"Huh,yeah!" he laughed. "I'm sure her skinny arms can carry a heavy duty machine gun, and I'm sure her back can maintain a heavy pouch over the course of a five mile jaunt."

She glared at him and clenched and unclenched her hands.

"Of course not, Cloud. I wouldn't have this dude behind me with me."

"So, why are you here?" Cloud shouted.

"I'm here to kidnap her. I was going to wait to after you all fucked each other to high heaven and fell asleep. I would've gone in, shot you in the head, and taken her off into the wild blue. Hmm... that was a good plan, too. Unfortunately, I was getting hungry when I arrived here a couple hours ago. I should've eaten before I got here, but I wasn't _that_ hungry before. You ever had that feeling?"

"Sometimes."

"Sucks, don't it?"

"Bet you could've gone for some salisbury steak, huh?"

Reno's eyes widened. "Was the inside juicy as hell?"

"Juicier."

"Bathed in A-1?"

Cloud nodded his head.

"Dammit!" Reno shouted and smacked the guard in the face, who dropped his gun. "I told you we were stalling too much. You pathetic little bastard."

While the guard blubbered something out, Cloud quickly scooped up the revolver and shot the guard in the face sending him backwards against the motel's wall. Aerith let out a small cry, but all the other pedestrians milling about didn't seem to notice. There was an even a policeman watching the scene; yet, he shrugged his shoulders and continued walking on. Cloud aimed the revolver at Reno's face and pulled the trigger.

Yet, it shot nothing.

Reno had mixed expressions on his face. "There was only one bullet. Intended for _your_ face, as a matter of fact. I wonder what went wrong here."

Cloud threw the gun to the ground and looked hard at the Turk. "Get the fuck out of here."

"Nah, I'm afraid I can't do that. Now there's more than one liability on my ticket here."

"Wait!" Aerith cried. "What do you want from me? What have I done?"

"Not a damn thing, babe," Reno replied.

"Then... why?" she asked.

"You are just a wanted person. Yes, my main job is a recruiter. I am also a bounty hunter... and you are the bounty."

"Bounty?"

"Bounty hunters track criminals," Cloud said, " she's not a criminal."

Reno shrugged.

Cloud looked at her, then back at the Turk. "What has she done?"

Reno sighed and took out the thin baton. He looked at Cloud and jerked back his hand. The baton transformed into a large, thin sword that had a very sharp blade at its point. "Cloud, your spiky-haired ass has stalled me long enough."

The Turk swung the blade quickly, and before Cloud could evade it the jagged tip struck his left shoulder and forced him against the door. The impact broke the hinges, and he crashed the door to the ground. Flesh stripped from his wound, and he felt great pain. Aerith grabbed Reno's arms and tried to stop him from killing Cloud, but he brought his unarmed hand and jacked her in the chin. She fell on her back unconcious. The Turk stood in the doorway, and Cloud kicked at his knees and jumped to a staggard standing position. With Reno stumbling, Cloud saw the chance to grab his big Buster sword. The four-foot blade could easily sever the life of this sonofabitch, and Cloud hobbled to grab the hilt. When he turned around, though, Reno had recovered. The Turk raised his blade and sent the jagged tip straight across Cloud's chest. Cloud lost grip on the hilt, and he slumped to the ground. His blood had sprayed across his face, the bed, and the tables. Reno was also drenched. The Turk, though, smiled at his butchering. The sight of a slaughtered human was always a delightful spectacle for him to partake in. He poised the blade above Cloud's face, inches from his nose. The former SOLDIER stared at the bloody tip with a panicked look: this wasn't the way to die! He now had a fiancee, and he was going to die this same night?

Reno thought about the seemingly infinite ways he could slice up this poor piece of shit, when another thought crept up in his brain. His face changed as that thought seeped in more and more. The jagged blade menacingly hovering above the spiky-haired man's face calmed itself and returned to its owner's side. The Turk let out a sigh of content. "Here's what we are going to do..."

Cloud waited for him to go on, but he didn't. He just stood there above him, smiling at the wall. Blood trickled across his tongue and out of his mouth when he spoke, " What are you thinking?"

Reno finally looked at him and smiled. He twirled his weapon to the blunt side and whacked Cloud across the head. Cloud's vision paled to a colorless environment, sounds escaped him, and all sense of taste and hearing left him.

**1600 hours--Mideel Prison**

The world came back to him two days later. It took him a while to realize he was strapped in a hard, cold chair. He was naked and vulnerable. Dirty, unshowered, unshaven. His wounds had been cauterized, but his dried blood was still visible and glistening. His neck was braced, so he couldn't move it. Three burlap straps crossed his chest, and three more crossed his legs. His arms were cuffed to the uncomfortable arms of the chair he sat in. When the world stopped spinning in a loopy hallucination, he noticed that a tall black man in a trenchcoat was seated behind a small desk in front of him. Both of them were in what looked like a prison cell, with no window. A small lamp on the ceiling badly lit the room, and there were a large number of gnats flying around.

The black man cleared his throat and said, "My name is Rude. I am another Turk... just so you know."

What had happened in the past quickly came back to Cloud, and he strained at his straps. "What did you bastards do to her?"

Rude tilted his head.

"Where is she? In a few months, she was going to be my wife! Why, what purpose do you have from her?"

"She was going to be your wife, eh? Didn't know that." He took a piece of paper and jotted something down on it.

"Answer my fucking question!"

"Temper, temper."

"ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION!"

Rude jotted more things down. "I'll answer it. It'll just decrease your chances of saving her, if you keep shouting like a madman here."

Cloud quieted. "What?"

"We're offering... a proposal to you."

"A proposal?"

"Five days."

"Five days what?"

"That's all you have."

"To do what?"

Rude sighed. _Was this so tough to comprehend,_ he thought. "You have five days to save her."

Cloud widened his eyes. "Wha-- where is she?"

Rude shrugged. "I don't know."

The anger came back. "Don't bullshit me!"

Rude stood up, stormed over to the naked man, pulled out a knife, and stuck the blade to Cloud's genitals. "You think I'm bullshitting?"

Cloud choked in fear. The blade was cold as ice, and it threatened to penetrate deep into his left nut. "No," he choked out, "no, you're not bullshitting."

Rude took the knife away and walked back to his seat.

"Well, what do I do?"

"Whatever you do is up to you. I am sure, though, that you'll find ways to get her back. Don't think it to be an easy ride, though, my friend. There are many perils in front of you on your path. Also, if you do find the building in which she's at... you'll uncover things that you probably don't want to uncover. Keep that in mind."

"So she's in a building?"

"Did I say that?"

"Yes."

"Well, pretend you didn't hear that. Anyway, I've got a question for you: do you _really_ love her? She's a simple-minded twit."

"She's not. I would do anything in the world to save her. I am not going to let her die!"

Rude sat in silence before jotting a final sentence into his pad. "Very well, then," he said at last. He got up and pulled out a needle from his pocket. The needle attached to a small vial that was filled with a red liquid. He walked over to Cloud and placed it to his arm.

"What are you doing?"

"Listen to this... at the end of the fifth day... if you haven't saved her or even reached her... she will die in the most horrible way you can imagine. I am sure whoever does it will take _great_ pleasure in exterminating her. Keep that in mind, my spiky-haired friend." He inserted the needle into Cloud's arm and squeezed all the juice into his veins.

Cloud's eyes lost the scenery of reality again, and he fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
